As goods flow ever more freely across borders, the movements of people are increasingly controlled and delimited. The proposed fence along the US-Mexico border, the walls being built throughout Baghdad and the rest of Iraq stand as physical reminders of the geopolitical conflicts they attempt to control, yet more often than not only exacerbate. Heralded as the only solution to stop terrorism, illegal immigration and other threats, the increased demarcation of space is also a means of controlling crucial resources: arable land, water, and the movements of people.
Palestinian-American artist Emily Jacir offers a poignant critique of these systems of control and restriction. Living part-time in New York City and Ramallah, she has a unique perspective on the social control controls exerted on the Palestinian people. In her project, Where We Come From, Jacir posed a simple question to Palestinians: “If I could do anything for you, anywhere in Palestine, what would it be?” Using the relative ease of movement allowed by her US passport, she carried out and documented the tasks requested, as best she could. Each task is documented by a photograph and text describing each request and why the person couldn’t carry out the task themselves.
One man sent the artist to leave flowers on his mother’s grave after being denied the entry card needed to visit. Another sent her to pay his phone bill – it had be paid at a post office in a part of Jerusalem he cannot got to. The accumulated stories and the images are a haunting reminder of the everyday impact of the complex system of checkpoints, walls and travel restrictions. Results of Jacir’s project can be seen here
Inviting participation and input from non-artists is a key element in many of Jacir’s art works. Clearly, the content of her work challenges the political status quo, but she makes the social world the setting of her work. This is why her work communicates so directly, without overt political posturing and rhetoric.
Another work, Crossing Surda (a record of going to and from work), documents Jacir’s commute every day for eight days with a video camera hidden in her bag. The last open road between Ramallah and the school was disrupted by a checkpoint in 2001, forcing nearby villagers to walk 2 km through checkpoints manned by the Israeli military. The result is a record of a trip both routine and extraordinary. This work is currently on view in the Brooklyn Museum’s Global Feminisms exhibition. Jacir has also been selected for this Summer’s Venice Biennale.
Though she is adamant that her work deals specifically with the issues faced by Palestinians, there is no doubt that the topics she addresses – the use of walls, checkpoints, ID cards and other means of surveillance – are increasingly relevant to citizens across the globe. The politicization of space, though as old as nation states themselves, is reaching new heights.
Similar themes are explored by Israeli architect Eyal Weizman in his book, The Politics of Verticality. Here is a recent AP report on the threat to water and farmland from proposed security fences along the US Mexico border. (My thanks to Blair Murphy for pulling together material for this post!)